In other circumstances it could have been a pleasant long weekend. Philippe Saint-André back in Clermont-Ferrand where he was the town's hero for nine years, many of them as captain of France - certainly Sale's director of rugby has not wanted for invitations.

This week he has had calls from former team-mates such as the giant former lock Olivier Merle and the bruising front-row Philippe Marocco. Jean-Marc Lhermet, the former France flanker who still works at the Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin, also phoned with plans for a few drinks after today's game, along with news that tickets were selling fast.

"They were gone in a couple of hours," says a thrilled Saint-André. "It seems Sale are more famous in Clermont-Ferrand than we are in Manchester." More likely it was the Saint-André factor kicking in. In a rugby-mad town where they cherish their heroes past and present, there has been a buzz ever since the fixture was announced.

Saint-André may not have been back for six years but they still remember him as the player who scored 141 tries for the team then known - and Saint-André still lapses when in full flow - as Montferrand, the player who won 68 caps, 34 times as captain of his country, and was France's player of the year in 1994, the year his team toured New Zealand and beat the All Blacks twice. "He was loved. He was a great player and a great man," the club spokesman said yesterday.

Saint-André is equally passionate about the club he joined in 1988 as a 20-year-old from Roman-sur-Isère, his home town near Grenoble where he still owns a bar: "I sell everything, but not the bar.

"In Clermont-Ferrand they live rugby, they eat rugby, they drink rugby, there is nothing more important in life. It's a great town, a fantastic club. People love rugby and the fans are fanatics." Quite a difference from Manchester where, in Saint-André's words, "you have to be more humble" with United and City around.

However, if that makes the town high on the Massif Central sound like rugby heaven, it is not. Over the years Montferrand and then Clermont-Auvergne have had massive backing from the tyre manufacturer Michelin, but they are still the biggest team in France not to have won a national title.

Like Gloucester, the team Saint-André coached when he first left France, they find it a lot easier to be top of the table in the regular season than winning on finals day and so far this grand obsession has also harmed their performance in Europe. Last season they looked like potential Heineken Cup winners after beating the then holders, Wasps, in France but then their coach, the Kiwi Vern Cotter, looked at the domestic programme ahead, saw that Toulouse were next at the Marcel Michelin and fielded a weak side in Limerick against the eventual champions, Munster.

For a side of such riches - the South African World Cup-winning captain, John Smit, spent most of last season on the bench - it seemed a suicidal waste, but it is a predicament Saint André knows well. At Bourgoin, the club he coached after Gloucester and before Sale, he wanted to build a proper European campaign on top of domestic success, fell out with the owner who was happy to lead the Top 14, and was sacked after a bitter dressing-room argument in the wake of defeat by Gloucester.

"Sure, sure," says Saint-André. "The club has lost nine finals and is the only club not to have won the championship, but for the last two years Montferrand have been one of the two best clubs in France. They have a fantastic squad, a lot of depth, and under the new coach, Vern Cotter, they play quite an exciting game and it will be a fantastic challenge for us.

"Last year his policy was to try to be French champions, but this season he will not make the same mistake again of picking a weak team in the Heineken Cup."

Yesterday's team announcement only suggested Saint-André was at least half correct, but Clermont have struggled away from home this season - they are currently fourth in the league - and when push comes to shove closer to Christmas, with the back-to-back games against Munster, who knows which way Cotter will bend?

As for Sale the problems are here and now, hence the decision to keep reunions to a few drinks tonight before catching an early plane back to Manchester tomorrow. "For us the next two weeks are a fantastic challenge," says Saint-André. "The next two weeks we play Montferrand in Clermont-Ferrand and Munster at home. We want to be compared with the best sides in Europe and in the next two weeks we have the chance to do it."